Michael A. Rizzo President of Baseball Operations and General

Michael A. Rizzo

President of Baseball Operations and General Manager

Washington Nationals

Presently in his 14

season as President of Baseball Operations and General Manager of the Washington

Nationals, Mike Rizzo is the third-longest tenured General Manager in Major League Baseball.

In 2019, his 11

season at the helm of the organization, Rizzo guided the Nationals to their first ever

World Series Championship defeating the Houston Astros in a Game 7, come from behind victory. The

Championship represented the culmination of a transformative effort under Mike Rizzo’s leadership.

When he joined the Nationals in 2006, Rizzo inherited a Club ranked near the bottom of the MLB

standings. Thus began a makeover in talent, teaching, culture and character. Today the Nationals are

regarded as perennially competitive. The 2007 First-Year Player Draft, Rizzo’s first with the organization,

marked the start of his dramatic impact. The draft was rated by Baseball America as the best in

baseball.

Before winning the 2019 World Series, Rizzo led the transformed Nationals to four National League East

titles and one Wild Card berth over the previous nine seasons.

In recognition of his achievements, Rizzo has been honored with numerous awards including, in 2012

and again in 2019, the prestigious Executive of the Year award bestowed by Baseball America and by the

Boston Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). Most recently, Rizzo was

named the Italian American Baseball Foundation’s Executive of the Year.

Rizzo’s career in professional baseball has spanned 39 years, beginning as a minor league infielder in the

Angels organization. Once retired as a player, he served as an assistant coach at the University of Illinois

while earning a B.A. degree in Communications. From there, Rizzo joined the Arizona Diamondbacks in

1998 as an Area Scout, rising to become Director of Scouting, helping bring a World Series championship

to Arizona in 2001.

Of special note, Mike Rizzo is a third-generation scout. He learned the game from his father, Phillip, who

spent 50 years in professional baseball, and from his grandfather, Vito, who was a semi-pro player

before founding the family business: scouting. Upon Mike Rizzo’s promotion to Nationals GM, his

father, Phil, was among his first hires. Phil served as Senior Advisor to the GM until his death on

February 1, 2020….three months after watching his son win a World Series title.

On June 24, 2021 in Miami, the Nationals beat the Marlins 7-3, marking Mike Rizzo’s 1000

win as a

General Manager. This makes him one of just nine active GMs to reach the 1000 win mark and one of

only six to reach the milestone with one team.

Mike and his wife, Jodi, divide their time between Washington, DC and West Palm Beach, Florida, site of

the Nationals spring training, player development facility. In keeping with family tradition, Michael

Rizzo Jr., who makes his home in L.A., joins his dad for as much baseball as possible.